[Closed] Help me mend a broken heart

You may not like the idea but an ebike.
In the short to medium term would allow you to ride for longer while providing you with assistance to increase your heart rate to a controlled level.
Use its assistance levels on the hills where required.
Would do no harm to have a demo and see how it builds your fitness and confidence then return to the gravel bike when the time feels right.

Yeah I’d agree, an ebike is perfect for this, it just makes you feel like you’re a bit fitter.
2nd choice would be (as you said already) a gravel/cx/old style tourer, or maybe even an actual road bike.

Try and make rides an outing. Ride with mates and chat. Go to a cafe or take a nice lunch. Plan rides for scenery. Ride to relatives or mates gardens or houses

Different heart condition - but I have dad done this - bike not yet arrived though!

You may not like the idea but an ebike.
In the short to medium term would allow you to ride for longer while providing you with assistance to increase your heart rate to a controlled level.
Use its assistance levels on the hills where required.

Have posted on your previous threads. I was diagnosed with non obstructive CAD last summer after some chest pain riding, and was advised to avoid threshold efforts, which is something I can manage on road and gravel, but not on MTB. Ebike has been a godsend for me. I have a Spesh Levo SL, so not a full fat ebike, and about half the power of same. I ride it same way as my other bikes, with my HR on the Garmin on the bars from a chest strap, and an alarm on my tempo/threshold of 162. It goes off regularly on all rides but the ebike means I can regulate it and keep a decent pace.

The only downside is the cost, they are stupid expensive..

Thanks All.

I'm a bit resistant to an E-bike, mainly because it feels like a crutch I don't want (but probably need) despite the fact that I'm already dependant on the crutch of masses of medication to keep going. Cost is also a factor; decent e-bikes are necessarily more costly than their non-E equivalents and we're not flush with cash.

Possibly the wrong time to buy any bike at present plus I don't now whether I'll be able to cycle effectively (I generally feel a bit groggy which I'm putting down to the medication). For now I'll be pootling around on my Swift and generally trying to enjoy going out and seeing how I get on.

I bought myself a Wahoo Ticker mid-heart attacks which is paired with my Garmin; as it stands, even pushing myself on short climbs my heart rate doesn't go over 151bpm but I'm on beta blockers morning & evening.

I don't really know how often to cycle and how hard to push myself, I've been given the go ahead to cycle again but I'd rather not give myself another heart attack.

A difficult situation for you. What I would say about the ebike is it’s anything but a crutch. I have had many more PBs on my regular road and gravel bikes since getting it ! Quite a few riding mates, who are younger with no heart issues have also got them now as they are just so much fun. Those who say they are cheating have, in general, never tried them.

I’m a bit resistant to an E-bike, mainly because it feels like a crutch I don’t want (but probably need) despite the fact that I’m already dependant on the crutch of masses of medication to keep going. Cost is also a factor

Oh man, I feel EXACTLY like this about an ebike. All the while I can ride on the road ok, and MTB ok - climbs are hard as ****, but I recover pretty quick and can keep going, I still want to be able to ride a normal bike and not feel like I’m riding an aid to disability vehicle!
Doesn’t help much, but just so you know you’re not the only one who feels this way!
(oh and I’ve demoed ebikes, so know how much FUN they are)

I've found myself doing more on the turbo to try and rehab after my heart issues as it's so controllable. Z2 largely or low tempo.

I've got a cannondale Topstone with bottom gear of 30*40 which means I can take it easier on the hills on the road to avoid threshold. I've found that much near threshold and I get angina. For that reason I've not done much off road recently and what I would do would be steady estate track type stuff.

I find it hard to manage efforts on road and always seem to over do it and leave myself fatigued. But that's my issue as I should look at my hrm and limit duration too as a longer period (3-4hours+) at z2/z3 seems as bad as threshold for after effects.

I've found that (after building back up with the turbo) if I can limit my ride to a sensible 2hours road I can enjoy it and not feel awful for days afterwards. Stupidly I don't always do that and then I'm a tired grumpy waste of space with angina for days.

If I hadn't already ordered and bought the topstone (which I love) last summer I would defo have looked at an e-gravel bike, but too many ££££ for what I'd want.

I'm 45, fit, and would love an ebike, it's only the cost that is stopping me.

Life is too short fella, give on a try, see how you get on.

All the best.

Why not try some different tyres on the swift and try to cheaply make it lighter/faster rolling for now?

Plan interesting/new/sociable routes with scenic spots to stop, take a camera, explore new places? Try and make the cycling easy with some breaks, make being out enjoying the countryside the primary objective, pootle about, making the cycling secondary.

What about going to see a sports physio who will be able to devise a proper exercise programme for you? It will be cheaper than spending thousands on an E bike.

Sounds shit. Good luck.

Recovery takes time, just keep working on it and don't try to break yourself doing it. It's ok to go medium pace instead of A-type personality pace.

I had a large atrial septal defect fixed last November (hole in heart), then a month of atrial flutter until they could reboot me safely.

On beta blockers, flecainide and anti-coag for first 6 months. In June went down to the flec, minimum dose of BBs (1.25mg a day) and switched to anti-platelets. No recurrence of the flutter.

I started on the turbo, very gently at first as I found it easier to control and felt it was lower risk. BBs meant I was running about 20 bpm lower than normal for similar perceived effort. Did a couple of gentle outside rides after a few weeks on the turbo, then lockdown hit and I stuck to the turbo for a couple of months. Started going outside after, including a couple of rides with friends.

Reducing BBs means I'm now only running about 10 bpm lower than normal. I've not been pushing things at all - only really doing tempo efforts with some 1-2 minute harder efforts.

Recently I've been getting a bit stressed about the HR - started with a couple of incidents when I was pushing a bit hard, saw HR higher than I wanted, panicked that something bad was happening, got a dump of adrenaline and HR went up even more! I've recognised the issue - it's me worrying because I'm watching the HR.

Past two weeks I've stopped showing HR and power on the Garmin and just gone out riding, kept things easy based on feel. I've been looking at the scenery, the flowers, the wildlife. Not the Garmin.

I'm also avoiding riding with others - I'll be too influenced by their pace - and avoiding others on the road as I tend to chase them unconsciously.

I feel so much better for this! I can still notice when I'm getting slightly stressed but just learning to back off and relax.

So... ride in your comfort zone until you get more confidence. Don't try and do what you used to before. Don't get stressed about what's going on inside, identify your triggers and alter behaviours if you can.

And there's nothing wrong with e-bikes.

My dad had a triple bypass last year and spent a long time, months, doing gentle rides, stopping when he had to and really easing back into it. He didn't ride with others for the reasons been mentions.

Basically everything beej did worked for him. He uses a heart rate monitor with a warning that goes off above a certain level that's set low, maybe 70% of max HR.

He's 67 and has been riding for the last decade really. He's not serious, max 20 miles on road usually, and hasn't felt the need to get an e bike.

The riding with others is a good point, I have found that when I’m on my own it’s much easier to keep HR in the right place. Unless I’m on the ebike and they aren’t !

Thanks everyone, I appreciate you taking the time to post. I'm just going to take it easy for a while and pootle about enjoying the scenery; I've only ever been a keen recreational pootler, not a super-athlete.

The silver lining is that I'd rather got stuck in a rut of riding the same hard loop and pushing to get better, where as now I'm just out enjoying the scenery, seeing the wildlife and having a jolly good explore.

I do feel quite vulnerable but hopefully things will improve over time and everything thing I've seen regarding post-heart attack recovery has exercise at the top of the list of things to do.

Hopefully there'll be a new bike in it too at some point (when the markets a bit more agreeable).

I’m a bit resistant to an E-bike, mainly because it feels like a crutch I don’t want (but probably need) despite the fact that I’m already dependant on the crutch of masses of medication to keep going.

I think you are in South Wales? If so (and you're between 5' 6'' to 5' 10'') you're welcome to take my Reign E out for a spin. I'm in the Wye Valley, near Tintern.

Hth

@Marko I'm in Somerset (I think that there's another P-Jay) but thank you for the kind offer.

I think that the resistance to E-bikes is similar to the resistance I had to getting glasses long after my eyesight started to fail - denial that I was getting old ☹

There is a misconception that ebikes are for old people...

On the back of the e-bike recommendations, I've recently been looking at ebike conversion kits. One that is particularly interesting is a mid-drive motor that replaces your crankset, and the battery can be mounted on your bottle cage bosses. I'm thinking you could keep your swift but stick e-bike motor on it, until you don't need it any more when you put it on ebay or classifieds (unless you are converted!).

Here's an example where a guy has put one on a Surly Karate Monkey,

that's using the older Bafang BBS02 motor, there's a newer, more powerful and reliable (apparently) motor; BBSHD. They're pretty popular, so if piqued your interest there's plenty of install videos and useful info on tinterweb and in the youtubes.
I'd love to build one, they look great.

Best of luck with your recovery.

Recumbent Etrike. The recumbent position does not raise heart rate the same as being upright. The electric assist can be adjusted as your fitness improves.

And you’ll have fun. Lots of fun.

I think that the resistance to E-bikes is similar to the resistance I had to getting glasses long after my eyesight started to fail – denial that I was getting old

It's not easy to explain and I can't expect people who just want an EBike for "fun" to get it. But when you've been told you have to take a bunch of pills to keep yourself alive, also being told you've got to give up on cycling and get something with a motor, is just another step over into feeling "useless". Not for me, until I physically can't pedal myself around for a few hours.

DezB for me I agree its a resistance to to ego and the 'I'm useless ' feeling which has got me Down more and more the last few years with a knee replacement, then heart issues and arthritic wrists. I look like a big strapping bloke but in practical ways I'm very limited, especially at the moment as c19 has delayed steroid injections for my wrists so lifting/carrying everyday things is a pain.

I love my new bike and low gears, but if I'd been more sensible I'd have got an e-bike.

But then again being resilient and not wanting to 'give in' is bloody important too. #nevergiveup

My best mate down south discovered that he had three separate heart issues and chose to buy an e-bike so he could keep riding with his regular Sunday morning run buddies. His take, if it's useful, was that the e-bike was great on hills, but less useful on the flat due to the 15.5mph maximum assisted limit, above which you're mostly just pedalling quite a heavy bike.

But honestly, whether people think it's 'lazy' or whatever is an irrelevance. If you're really bothered, some e-bikes these days are virtually indistinguishable from a conventional bike. Eg: Ribble

if it gets you into the hills...

I had an MI 4 years ago. I was dead for 10 minutes, received CPR and had a defib shock which got me back. Air ambulance to hospital and stented in LAD. 3 days in hospital and I was back at home. I ride but run more and the slow return to exercise was hard as I had been really active, but I did the rehab course and built up slowly and eventually got back to a normal exercise routine. I am now in a better position than I was previously and have not had any repercussions or problems since. My consultant advised me to keep up the exercise to maintain heart health. The best advice I can give is to follow the advice you are given and take things slowly and stop if you have any issues or feel strange (although it seems you are doing this already). Don't be afraid to push yourself a little bit, but keep things in perspective and take things slowly. Oh and good luck, there is life after such events but you need to be sensible and not go mad.

@alanf thank you for sharing that and I'm glad that you're doing well; it sounds like there's hope for me too.

After the first heart attack I felt fine and was working under the misconception that I had one dodgy artery, which was stented open, and two that were okay and could go for it (the whole push of the Rehab. course was to really get you're heart rate going). As cycling caused the first heart attack and seems to have brought on the second I'm now a bit nervous, the fact that I have ongoing angina and one vessel that's not stented (but was ballooned) adds to this (if I understand things correctly there's something about the placement of one of the stents done in the first hospital that prevents stenting the OC and may even be restricting flow).

I had a ride yesterday (no pain) but felt rough in the afternoon and I don't know if that means I over did it (and what consequences that might have) or whether it might just be tablet side effects (I've had a fairly rapid increase in Isotard from nothing to maximum). I think that a fear is that I'll precipitate a third heart attack and end up going down the progressive heart failure route.

I also realise that if I want to improve heart health I need to push it a bit but I'm a bit nervous of doing so and tend to back off if I get chest/throat discomfort (although that could be a good sign that I've got it working, after all I don't worry if my legs hurt).

I also need to realise that 10 months of relative inactivity and 2 heart attacks puts me well behind "back at square one" and that a chunk of dead heart muscle, a reduced ejection fraction & ongoing angina means that I'm never going to get back to where I was (although I was never close to optimally fit).

Hopefully things will improve over time and I should be seeing a Consultant in December (CV-19 has rather got in the way of follow ups although I have had a telephone consultation).

It sounds like you are going about things the right way @PJay, and theres no one size fits all approach, so I would just stick to your current approach and see how things pan out. Keep a record of anything unusual so you can present it to the consultant as they may be able to offer some insight. Just take it steady and enjoy your riding...